This is another reminder of the increased crack down on misclassifying people working for companies. If you are considering someone working for you as an independent contractor, remember;
If you tell someone where to go, what to do, and how to do it – they’re an employee
If the person(s) are not bidding on the work – employee
And the easiest to discern, if the majority of their income comes from you paying them – employee
They best way to protect yourself from getting caught having to pay all the back payroll taxes plus penalties and interest, is to make each person show proof (like a bank statement) that they are paying deducted payroll taxes or self employment quarterly estimated payments. If you can show the IRS that they got their share, and that you were looking out for them by requiring proof of payments, you might wiggle out with a warning – but if they see employees, you’ll have to change your operations.